Ben Foster has followed Roy Keane's lead with a scathing assessment of Manchester United following their opening day defeat to Brighton.
Foster started both of Watford's games against the Red Devils last season, with one being a 4-1 win and the other a goalless draw. That was despite the Hornets being relegated to the Championship following a miserable year at Vicarage Road.
But the problems that saw United struggle so badly against them show no signs of disappearing from the Red Devils. In their first Premier League game under the management of Erik ten Hag, they lost to the Seagulls.
And from his experience of playing against many players who started for United on Sunday, Foster has been left feeling that they are vulnerable. He also highlighted an increasingly toxic atmosphere around the club as one of the reasons for their struggles.
"The home game was great that we won 4-1 but I’d say it was the away game that was the most telling because we went away to Old Trafford, bearing in mind we were a struggling team last season, but we made a point of getting in their faces," he told talkSPORT.
"The longer the game went on the more Manchester United fans would get onto the Manchester United players’ backs and you could feel this sort of atmosphere and that’s what’s wrong with it at the minute.
"There’s a little bit of an atmosphere and around Old Trafford where they’re used to winning, they’ve got [Cristiano] Ronaldo back in the ranks expecting to still be scoring hat-tricks and it’s not quite working like that at the minute.
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"Manchester United in general are vulnerable. I watched the game on Saturday and I predicted before the game that Manchester United would lose the game. That's the worrying part, when a team like Brighton come to Old Trafford and look just as good as Man United."
Foster's comments would go a long way to proving United legend Roy Keane right after he slammed the character of the club's current squad. The Irishman was left fuming by the defeat to Brighton and questioned their ability to bounce back from setbacks.
"You have to have a certain character to play for Man United when there is 65,000, 75,000 at the match moaning and groaning, you stick your chest out and say 'I can deal with this'. You don’t have to be the best player in English football but deal with that expectation," he told Sky Sports.
"The players, we seen it today, can’t deal with a setback. Okay Brighton come they’re neat and tidy, they score okay no need to panic then they give another goal away. They have to chase the game. Man United have to be better than that.
"They don’t run, they don’t sprint, they’re not closing down. To me that’s not giving 100 per cent, the word coming out from the training ground, over the last month or two they’re training properly, there’s discipline they’re training on time, that’s come from within the group not the coach.
"I think today was lacking football intelligence, they’re open, they can’t keep clean sheets, huge huge problems as we well know. We go back to a lot of the players in the starting XI particularly pre-season, it’s the same characters, same personalities. OK, some of these are talents in the squad but when they have a little setback they can’t seem to deal with it."
